It appears to be the objective of many students to attend an Ivy League institution, yet the most villianous and vile people are not only graduates of these institutions, but also reside on their faculties. John Negroponte, Ernesto Zedillo and Gen. McChrystal at Yale, Alan Blinder at Princeton (and other such types), Kissinger was at Harvard for quite some time, Martin Feldstein is still there? Not biophiles, but they who live as necrophiles.

Originally posted on http://bibliophilesisters.wordpress.com/
Smart Girls Get What They Want written by Sarah Strohmeyer was originally published June 2012 by Balzer + Bray.

Gigi has been best friends with Bea and Neerja since the first day of school. They are smart, overachievers who aim for academic brilliance. Even though they aren’t the most popular girls in school…scratch that even though they aren’t even slightly popular they know that getting into a good Ivy League College is important since that is where their lives will really start. Soon they realize that they are actually missing out on an important part of high school so each girl decides to face one of their fears. Gigi will tackle her fear of public speaking to run for student rep against the new boy in school who happens to be her new crush. Bea decides to go behind her parents backs and try out for the ski team, even though they forbade her to compete after her brother had a scary accident on the slopes. Neerja will finally emerge from behind the scenes and go out for a part in the school production of Romeo and Juliet and maybe catch the eye of her own Romeo. It’s time to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want, but are they ready for the attention that it might cause them??

I bought this book when it first came out because I thought it would be interesting to read about smart girls for a change. I admit that I was drawn to the book because the girl on the cover was wearing glasses and indeed looked smart. Then this book promptly waited on my Kobo for over a year. After I finished How Zoe Made her Dreams (Mostly) Come true I knew I had to read this right away because I loved Sarah Strohmeyer’s writing so much in her other book.

Then I saw the new covers; I admit that I do like the new cover a lot. I love that it matches Zoe more and like the Zoe cover I like the muted yet bright colors. I like the font, and I even like the way that the couple are posed because it’s so darn cute; however, at the same time it doesn’t really have anything to do with the actual book whereas the first cover the model actually looks like the main character Gigi so it may be a little more fitting. Which cover did you like the most?

The story itself was a little bit of a let down for me personally. I didn’t like it nearly as much as Zoe. Maybe under different circumstances had I not just finished and loved Sarah’s other book then I might have enjoyed this one more.

I did like Gigi as a character, and found her relatable probably because I saw a lot of my high school self in her. I thought it was a great way to show girls that you need a balance. You can’t focus entirely on school or entirely on socializing there is a nice middle ground somewhere for everyone.

I will still read stuff that Sarah Strohmeyer puts out in the future, but won’t recommend this one as much. If you haven’t already read How Zoe Made her Dreams (Mostly) Come True I suggest you do!!

Smart Girls Get What They Want; I found it a little boring in the beginning but it picked up rapidly and I rated it as Excellent! I too read it in about six hours. Doctor-at Bass –Two! M. A.

BPLNextBestTeens
Mar 08, 2013

First teen novel from chick lit writer Strohmeyer. Best friends Gigi, Bea and Neerja are in their sophomore year. All three are smart and headed to Ivy League schools but are they popular? Are they happy? Will anybody remember them after high school? The girls launch a plan to make their final years in high school memorable. To get noticed this funny novel takes us through a year of high school drama – the ski team, drama club, student government and, of course, boys. As each girl strives to be acknowledged, they also conquer personal fears. These likable characters are perfect for readers in junior high or older. This realistic story will appeal to fans of Meg Cabot. Written by PGH

"Disregarding their unpopularity to focus on a shared ambition of getting into Ivy League colleges, three high-achieving best friends agree to confront their biggest fears together and get more attention than they expected. By the best-selling author of The Cinderella Pact." Teen Scene November 2012 newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=565687

Age Suitability

Summary

when i was walking by in the library, this book caught my attention even though I had so many books that I was supposed to read. Anyways the book talks about this girl nicknamed Gigi, she was one of those girls that like to mind her own business and focus on her studying until her chem teacher believed that she and another guy named Mike, were cheating on the midterm which cause them a bad folder in their file so she had to make a presentation to help her teacher rethink his decision of the files. she also decided to run for the student body. which made her more popular than she was. what might have ruined her chances to win was the new hot exchange kid, will that all the girls were drooling about. she liked him and he also liked her but he wanted his relationship to grow with the long distance girlfriend who lived in California but he doesn't tell her until the end of the book. But all that time what she didn't realize is that Mike really liked her with all his excuses of wanting her homework and the project that they had to work on. She realizes that at the end of the book even after the many things that he did for her.